Bring On Disaster
by NobleMikaelson
Summary: When Ava Gilbert decided that moving back home was the best choice for her, she never expected to be pulled into a horror story of vampires and witches. Right away she hates Damon Salvatore, the brother of her sister's new boyfriend, but when she finds herself tossed in the middle of something terrible, she takes comfort in the last man she ever thought she would. [Damon/OC]


_**Story Info**_

 **Title:** Bring On Disaster

 **Fandom:** The Vampire Diaries

 **Rating:** T

 **Pairing:** Damon/OC

 **Spoilers:** Season 1x03+

 **Summary:** At first, Avalynn Gilbert thought that being a few states away after the death of her parents was a good thing. It would give her the time to grieve and not have to deal with the questions and the looks. But she soon realizes that it's not the truth, she needs her family, and so she packs up in New York and heads back home to Mystic Falls, Virginia. She's surprised at all the changes that come with being home, most of which is her younger sister's new boyfriend, Stefan Salvatore. And to her chagrin, the brother that came with him, Damon. Ava hates Damon rather quickly and furiously as she finds him rude and arrogant. But as always, not everything is as it seems in Mystic Falls and soon she finds herself in the middle of something she never expected, with the last man she ever wanted to share it with: Damon Salvatore.

.x.x.x.x.

 _ **Chapter Info**_

 **Title:** Friday Night Bites

 **Number:** 1/?

 **Warnings:** Language, angst, blood

 **Author's Note:** Greetings, everyone! Welcome to my new TVD story! Of course I'll still be writing Left to Fate, but this one has been eating at my brain so I decided to start it. This one will be more AU than even Left to Fate, but hopefully it'll still keep you interested. As always, the story info will be just on this chapter as it won't change, but the chapter info will be on each chapter as it will be different. Also note that the rating is _subject to change_ depending on what happens further into the story. And like with Left to Fate, all of Ava's outfits will be on my **Polyvore** under the username **alysalvatore** so don't forget to check those out! Without further ado, thank you so much for reading, and comments are love!

* * *

 **-Ava-**

Avalynn Gilbert had been driving for over ten hours, so when she saw 1024 Maple Street, the familiar form of her childhood home, she nearly wept.

It had taken so long to finally get to the point where she could admit to herself that she needed to get back home. Emotions weren't really her thing, other than bitterness and sarcasm. It was a defense mechanism she picked up as a kid as the oldest child in the Gilbert household as she always took it upon herself to be the responsible one, look out for Elena and Jeremy and help her mother out while her father worked. It was later her mother that encouraged her to go to college out of state in New York, despite the tuition being higher if she had just stayed in state and gone to Whitmore. But she was grateful that her mother gave her the opportunity as she was finally able to be her age for once, and for the first six months she was up there, she didn't know what to do with herself as she didn't have to get up to make breakfast for her siblings and make sure they were awake as well. It was a relief, though she missed her family terribly. When her parents died, she fought with herself on whether or not she should go back home. Miranda and Grayson Gilbert didn't have the chance to change their will so Elena and Jeremy's primary care was given to Jenna, but Ava knew it should be her duty to go home and look after her brother and sister.

So finally, after four months of fighting with herself and her college, she managed to lighten her coursework and take part-time online only classes so she could live in Virginia and still be able to complete her degree from her school. She honestly loved it there and didn't want to change, but she was needed in Mystic Falls, it's where she _had_ to be, no matter how much grief her school gave her and no matter how many times Jenna declined her help. But Ava knew how to look after them and she could help Jenna with that, plus another job around the house couldn't hurt. And she wanted to be there. The house was a memorial to her parents and she needed that familiarity.

When Ava first figured out it could happen, she made Jenna promise not to tell Elena and Jeremy as she wanted to surprise them. She was extremely close with her siblings and they had all cried when she first moved to New York; she knew they would all cry now that she was back. Despite the fact that emotions were something she put on the back burner, her brother and sister seemed to always bring them up; in fact, other than her parents, they were the only ones who were able to do so. It would be something she would have to get used to again, but it would so be worth it to be able to be back home.

The house loomed in front of her like a giant tombstone and she had to sit there for a few moments to collect herself. The porch swing that her father put up soon after Elena was born was still there, swaying ever so slightly in the light breeze that drifted through the small town. The lights glowed softly through the windows and casted shadows on the lush green grass. It badly needed to be cut and she knew that it was something her father was a stickler for; he loved an immaculate lawn. She made a mental note to do it herself over the weekend, or perhaps get Jeremy to help her out, though she hoped he would as she heard from Jenna and Elena what was going on with him since May.

 _Well, that shit's about to stop pretty damn quickly,_ she thought wryly to herself as finally she climbed from the car. While she had all of her clothes and personal belongings with her (her furniture she left for her roommate as she had all of that here at home), she grabbed just her travel bag from the back seat. She had packed it just in case she decided to stop along the way, but she decided she wanted to get the driving over with, plus she was far too excited to see her family again to be able to deal with crappy motels and figuring out if the sheets were safe to sleep in.

Tossing her duffle over her shoulder, she slouched for the house and frowned when she realized she didn't see Jenna's car. But Elena's was there so she supposed that's what mattered; she loved Jenna, but it was Elena and Jeremy that she really wanted to see. And while she had a key and was more than welcome to walk right in, she wanted to be dramatic so she lightly went up the steps, smirked, and rang the doorbell.

The light murmur of conversation that she could hear from inside silenced before footsteps came closer. She almost shook with anticipation before the door finally swung open to reveal a stunned Elena and a guy Ava had never met before standing behind her. Elena's mouth dropped open and Ava nearly burst into hysterics, but she managed to push it back as her smirk widened and she brought up a hand to wave at the girl.

"Well, I guess I win for element of surprise, don't I, Lena?" Elena's mouth opened a couple times as if she wanted to speak, but nothing came out, and Ava laughed. "Wow, I've never seen you speechless. I like it. Maybe I should surprise you more often. Or take a picture or something."

Finally Elena snapped out of it and quickly tugged her into the house, all but leaping on her as she pulled her into a tight hug. "Why didn't you tell us you were coming home?" she asked, her voice almost admonishing.

Ava snorted. "And miss this reaction? Not on your life." She pulled away and grinned again, reaching up to tuck Elena's hair behind her ear just like she's done since she was five. "Besides, I didn't even know for sure until a couple days ago."

"What about school?"

"I got my classes switched to online. So I'm here to stay."

"Really?!" Elena practically squealed in excitement and Ava laughed, nodding.

"You're stuck with me now, little sister."

"Sister?" the guy she didn't know asked quietly to Elena.

"This is Ava, my big sister," Elena said, and normally Ava would've said something, but she wasn't done hugging her yet. Ava chuckled softly and squeezed her back just as tightly, feeling everything falling into place once again. Not just because she was home, but her sister was here and she was okay and alive, and that's all that mattered to her. She knew she could deal with just about everything else as long as Elena and Jeremy were okay. "Wait, Jenna knew, didn't she?" She pulled back, her eyes narrowing on Ava. "She never said anything."

"Because I told her not to." She winked and playfully punched her shoulder. "Now, enough about me." She turned to the guy still staring at her in confusion. "I'm Ava Gilbert. I assume you're Elena's boyfriend, but even if you're not, wanna help a girl bring in some heavy bags?"

"Ava!" Elena scolded, but Ava ignored her as she sized him up, scrutinizing him and waiting for his response. Before she left, she would've interrogated any guy until they cried that wanted to date her sister. She would've done the same to any girl that was around Jeremy. But she hadn't been around, and so now she had to make up for that in her own fun way.

Slowly his face morphed into one of amusement and he chuckled. "Of course, I'd be happy to help." He held out his hand. "I'm Stefan Salvatore, it's nice to meet you, Ava." He nodded a little and Ava decided she liked him. Polite and helpful and so she grinned, reaching out to shake his hand and Elena let out a breath.

"Nice to meet you." She glanced around and saw there were others in the living room. "But we can do that later. I didn't mean to break up your party here." She smiled at the others. "Hi, Bonnie. Caroline." She paused. "Man I don't know."

But she sort of wish she _did_ know him. Ava was no prude, in fact she was of the firm belief that relationships were a waste of time and love was just a hormonal chemical reaction. That didn't stop her from creating epic love stories in all of her writing classes—came with the territory of being an English major—but she was good at bullshitting her way through things, hence her entire high school career. Still, she knew an attractive man when she saw one, and this man was about a one hundred on a scale of one to ten. Raven black hair, icy blue eyes, a body that could make a gay woman cry... The kind of man she could see herself writing about, if the occasion called for it. But she kept her keep observations to a minimum as she forced herself to keep her gaze on his, watching as he smirked and left Caroline's side to approach her.

"Damon Salvatore, Stefan's charming older brother." He, too, held out his hand for her to shake and instead of doing so, he kissed the top of it. She held in the snorting laughter as she thought, _Cheesy_ , and knew that his looks were about the end of her interest in him.

"Keep dreaming, big guy," she said, watching his face fall incredulously for a moment as she heard Stefan bark out a laugh behind her, and then cover it up with a cough. She turned, gave him a wink, and then hooked her arm through Elena's.

"I'll let you have your party and start opening my room up. We can talk more tomorrow."

"You should come to the game tomorrow," Stefan suggested.

"Right!" Elena exclaimed. "Caroline, Bonnie, and I are cheering and Stefan's on the team."

Ava raised an eyebrow at her sister, knowing that the younger Gilbert didn't exactly want to be on the team anymore, but she remembered Caroline's pushy influence very well. She had told Elena all summer just to let Caroline know she couldn't do it this year, but Elena always assumed she would be better and able to get back into the swing of things once the school year started. Ava knew Elena very well and could see that wasn't quite the case, but she wasn't about to out her right there in front of everyone and confront her about it. However, she would definitely be talking with her about it later.

"Sure, I'll be there," she said with a smile and Elena hugged her again.

"Ava?!" Jeremy's voice sounded from outside the front door, making her pull away from Elena. She heard hurried footsteps on the front porch and she knew that he probably saw her car in the driveway. It was hard to miss, a shitty little 1998 Honda Accord, one that was falling apart and barely made it to Mystic Falls. She made a mental note to search out Matt Donovan and have him take a look and see if it was worth saving.

But soon enough, her (tall— _has he always been this tall_?) little brother came into view, his eyes wide with a note of something she couldn't quite place as he stared at her in incredulous silence.

"Jer," she said, finally laughing as Jeremy shoved Elena out of the way and quickly yanked Ava into his embrace. "Hello to you, too, baby brother."

"When did you get here?"

"Just now. And before you ask, I'm here to stay."

"Wait," Jeremy said. "Does Jenna know?"

"Duh. Who do you think helped me pay for gas?"

"She never told us!" he complained.

"Because I told her not to." She winked and linked her arm through his. "But let's leave them to it. I think you should come with me and tell me all about this new and exciting drug addiction I've heard so much about." She gave him a sweet smile as his face dropped, the look a cross between annoyance and fear, but he didn't argue—he knew better—as she began tugging him for the stairs. "Tootles!" she called over her shoulder, winking to the now glaring Damon and an amused Stefan, and headed into her old bedroom with her little brother in tow.

It had been shut up for the past four months so it was a bit musty. She started by shoving Jeremy on the bed and then went to fling open the windows to let some fresh air in, and then started walking around and tisking at the fine layer of dust that covered the surfaces around the room. _I'll have to clean first thing tomorrow,_ she thought, knowing that nobody else would've done it while she was away, not that it was their job. The rest of the house was pretty spotless, she noticed, but she would still be going over it with orange glow, a mop, and the vacuum.

"Will you just get it over with, Ava?"

The brunette rose an eyebrow and spun around to eye her baby brother, who seemed to gain two seconds of confidence while she wasn't looking, but as soon as she was, lost it. Jeremy was fifteen now and he was strong, and more importantly an angsty teenager, but that didn't mean she wasn't the one who helped to raise him. Being five years older than him—three years older than Elena—they always respected her as much as they did their parents. She worked hard to get there, and she wasn't about to lose it then, even if that meant getting on his case about becoming a druggie in the four months since she last saw him. But deep down she knew that anything she would be saying was more out of fear than anything, even if she didn't want to admit it. She feared for her siblings. She wasn't there that night in May, but she knew Elena had been in the car with their parents, and that terrified her more than anything she had ever experienced before. And now, hearing from Elena and Jenna both that Jeremy was doing drugs? Well, she was good at hiding the anger and fear and resentment she felt as she leaned against her desk with her butt, sitting lightly on the edge as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"' _Get it over with_ '? Is that seriously what you just asked me? Jeremy Grayson Gilbert, I swear to God that you get more and more frustrating every time I see you." She sighed and shook her head. "What makes you think this will be solved in one simple conversation? If that were the case, you wouldn't be doing drugs because Elena and Jenna would've knocked it out of you by now."

"It's none of their business. And—" He stopped and she saw him hold back his words, but she knew exactly what he was going to say.

"—and it's none of mine?" she tried, raising an eyebrow. His lack of response told her she was right. "I'm pretty sure you're wrong. For starters, Jenna is your legal guardian and so it's _all_ of her business. She's supposed to look out for you, and if you're doing drugs, clearly something needs to change. Next, I'm your sister. I've always looked out for you and Elena, you know that. So it's my business because clearly I screwed up my job."

"Well if you hadn't left," he mumbled, casting his eyes away and it was clear she wasn't meant to hear that, but she did. And she couldn't speak for a moment as the words hurt. He had been supportive when she first left, and always assumed that he wanted what she did and that was for her to be happy. She knew that he was speaking out of anger or resentment, but that didn't make it hurt less. Still, it was easy to swallow as it wouldn't be the first or the last time Elena or Jeremy said something hurtful to her and she brushed it aside because that's what any caretaker should do. She was supposed to help and guide them, let them be kids and vent to her, no matter what her own feelings or thoughts or personal vendettas were. She still had to look out for them.

"You know why I left," she said, her voice a bit quieter and not as forceful as it had been. She saw him wince and to her, that meant he knew he hurt her. "You know it wasn't to hurt you. I left to follow my own dreams. But things are different now, aren't they? Mom and Dad are gone, you're hurting and you're acting out in a way you think will make you feel better. But I'm back, Jer. I would rather you yell and scream and hate me then do what you're doing. I would much rather you be pissed off at me and alive, then be my best friend and be dead."

Neither of them said anything for a few moments, Jeremy sitting sullenly on her bed while Ava stared at her feet. They were at a bit of an impasse because both of the siblings were stubborn so they weren't about to change their minds, and yet they both knew that something needed to give. Either Jeremy needed to give up the drugs or Ava needed to ease up a little and let him work it out on his own. But it wasn't in Ava's nature to just let her little brother do something so stupid and reckless so he could work out his issues. She just didn't know what else to do because, unlike every time before, he wasn't going to listen to her. He was at the stage where he was in pain and he thought everything he did was right or what was best for himself. She only hoped he didn't destroy himself in the process.

Finally she stood and took the steps to close in the few feet between them, and settled her palms on his shoulders. "I love you, Jer," she whispered. "You're my baby brother. I'll always be here for you and I'll always look out for you. No matter what I say or do, I can't truly tell you what not to do. It's your life and it's your body you're destroying. Just don't go too far that you can't come back from it. I don't know what I would do if I lost you, too." She gave him a small smile, kissed his forehead, and stood back as she yanked him to his feet. "Now, let's go find Stefan. I think you and he should get my bags from my car now. I want to pass out, and I've decided I don't want to leave them out there all night."

.x.x.x.x.

The next night found Ava at the game, just like she promised Elena. She wore the same jeans she had on the night before—black and ripped at the knee—with a black crop top that was nearly backless except for an X of fabric, and had spaghetti straps and some straps over her cleavage. Her usual makeup of blood-red lipstick, dark mascara, and dark nude eyeshadow completed the look with her mid-calf height black boots. It was her usual look, one she had ever since seventh grade when she discovered the likes of Metallica and Guns N Roses.

The memories of her own high school career nearly choked her as she parked in the lot beside the football stadium, nostalgia making her smile. While it had been only a couple years since she had been there, it felt like it had been an eternity. She certainly felt like she lived more lives in her almost twenty years than most people had. But then again, most people didn't lose both their parents in a car accident at such a young age, or move from New York and back like she had. Part of her still wished to be back in high school, but she wasn't sure if she just wanted the experiences back, or if it was because that's when everything was fine with her parents and her siblings and nobody was dead or slowly killing themselves.

Most of the crowd was gathered at the back of the gym when Ava finally found her way through the grounds. She could spot the back of her sister's head along with Bonnie and Caroline, and she saw Stefan standing up with the other players. She recognized most of them, especially Matt Donovan—her sister's ex that she actually liked—as he gave her a quick, surprised smile when he saw her, and Tyler Lockwood, the boy who always hit on her before she first left and nothing's changed as he smirked at her and caused her to roll her eyes. While at the time he had been sixteen and too young for her senior mind, she decided that growing up had definitely agreed with him. She hadn't seen him in two years, but she could easily tell he got a bit taller and he filled out more in the shoulders and chest. _Delicious_ , she thought as she smirked and stood slightly to the back, waiting for the coach—the infamous Mr. Tanner, she remembered—to finish his speech.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait. Let's be honest here. In the past, we used to let other teams come into our town and roll right over us." Tanner called, making the crowd boo. "But that is about to change." The boos turned into cheers. "We've got some great new talent tonight starting on the offense, and I'm gonna tell you right now, it has been a long time since I have seen a kid like this with hands like these. Let's give it up for Stefan Salvatore!" The crowd cheered louder and Stefan smiled, picking up a hand in a slight humble wave, looking around at the students around him. Ava cheered, clapped, and cheered louder, drawing the attention of Elena, Bonnie, and Caroline who all smiled and pushed through the crowd to meet her.

"You made it!" Elena exclaimed, reaching over to hug her sister.

"Couldn't keep me away," Ava said with a grin before hugging Caroline and then Bonnie. "Been too long." She paused. "Why aren't you in uniform?" The question was accusatory and directed at her sister.

"She quit," Caroline said, putting her hands on her hips as Elena glanced away. "Can you believe it?"

Ava shrugged. "Not really. Cheerleaders have always been preppy airheads." She paused. "Except for the three of you." She winked and Elena rolled her eyes as Caroline huffed. "Besides, this summer was rough, Care, cut her some slack."

"I'm right here you know," Elena muttered.

"—say to you... Your Timberwolves are hungry!" Tanner was finishing up his speech and the crowd cheered louder. Ava rolled her eyes.

"He's still full of hot air, I see," she said dryly causing the other three to laugh, only for it to die out as a scuffle behind them all made them turn.

"Tyler, stop it! Tyler! Tyler, stop! Stop it! Stop, you're hurting him! Tyler! Tyler, stop! Tyler! Stop it! Tyler, stop!" It was Vicki Donovan screaming and Ava's brows furrowed, trying to decide if she felt bad for her distress or if she was still too angry at the girl's part in her brother's fall. She knew from Elena that Jeremy began to hang out with her more after their parents' deaths and that was when he began to do drugs. She couldn't completely blame the girl seeing as Jeremy was his own person and made his own choices, but she knew the influence she had over him. She could tell because it was a second later that she noticed it was Jeremy that Tyler was going after, and a large swell of fury rolled over her and she ran over without a second thought, Elena calling for her. But she didn't stop even as she saw Stefan grab Tyler's wrist to stop him from going after him again, kicking him while Jeremy was already down, trying to block or fight back Ava wasn't sure. But seeing her baby brother like that brought out the mother lion in her and she was at Stefan's side a moment later, glaring at Tyler before leaning down to Jeremy's level.

"Hey, he's down! Enough!" Stefan said forcefully, his eyes set and angry. But Tyler wasn't listening as he threw a punch at Stefan who barely even moved from the force. Ava would consider that more later, especially the look of fear on Tyler's face, but Jeremy was her first priority.

"Jer, are you okay?" she murmured, hands reaching for him, but he pushed her off. He dove for the van beside them and grabbed something, which Ava realized a second later was the broken upper half of a liquor bottle.

"Jeremy, no!" Elena called, alarmed.

"Jeremy, stop!" Ava said at the same time. Jeremy swiped for Tyler, but Stefan got in the way. Ava's eyes widened as it sliced his palm, seeing the crimson leaking through his fingers as he turned away from them.

"Tyler, knock it off! Stop!" Matt was saying, grabbing Tyler away. "Come on, man. Come on." He dragged him from the scene, which caused the tension to ease only slightly. Adrenaline was making Ava dizzy, even though it wasn't her fight. But better adrenaline than fear after what could've possibly happened to her brother. And she was well aware that she was fluttering, but she couldn't help it. It was in her nature. And she continued to even as Elena came over and Jeremy tried to push them both away.

"What the hell, Jeremy? Put your head up, you're bleeding," Ava said, reaching into her pocket to pull out some crumpled tissues. For that reason, Elena and their mother always joked she was a little old lady. She always carried around tissues and hard candies, and Ava didn't care one bit.

"I'm fine!" Jeremy said, pushing their hands away.

"Yeah, you smell fine," Elena snapped.

"Just stop, okay?" he said. The girls sighed, glanced at each other, and decided to back off. For now. But he knew that Ava wouldn't be letting him off so easily. Once they were home away from other people, and he calmed down a bit, and Ava's adrenaline wore off, they would be having some words.

"Oh, my god, your hand!" Elena's exclamation had Ava spinning quickly, thinking she was talking about Jeremy, but then saw her sister was looking at Stefan. He closed up his palm and quickly pulled his hand from her grip, hiding it behind his back. The sisters frowned.

"No, no, no. It's fine," he insisted.

"Is it deep? How bad is it? Come on!" Elena tugged at his hand and finally he pulled it out from behind his back. Ava stepped up, intending to assess it and then help patch it up, but they both saw that it wasn't damaged. There was some blood spotting it, but there was no cut or even a scar.

"But...I saw it, it was..." Elena trailed off.

"He missed. It's not my blood. See? I'm fine."

"No, no, no. I...I saw it," Elena said.

"The glass cut your hand," Ava insisted, cutting in and frowning at the boy. She put her hands on her hips and stared him down, daring him to argue again. She saw the cut, she know she did, she wasn't blind or stupid.

"It's okay. I'm okay." He looked between the sisters, but avoided Ava's scrutinizing eyes because even he couldn't resist her stare. "It's almost kick-off time, all right? So, um, I'll, uh, I'll see you after the game." He smiled at Elena and patted her arm, nodded to Ava, and turned to take off back for the field.

The sisters sat there staring after him before looking at each other. Ava shook her head. Because she knew that they both didn't believe him. He _did_ get cut, she saw the bottle physically cut his hand. Not just him turn away, but she saw it. And no matter how many times he resisted it, the cut had happened. Which meant in the minute or two between the cut and Elena looking at it, it healed as if it never happened. So the big question was: how in the hell _did_ it happen?

Finally the girls bid Jeremy a goodbye as he decided that they didn't want to be in their company anyway and headed back towards where they had left Bonnie and Caroline behind the group of students. Mostly everybody had begun to walk away, the cheerleaders and football players getting ready for the game while the other students were going to the concession stand or finding their friends and grabbing some seats. But luckily Bonnie was still there, glancing around until she saw the Gilbert sisters coming towards her, and quickly waved for them.

"Hey!" Bonnie called when she spotted them. "Where you been?"

"Can I ask you a question and you give me a really serious no-joke response?" Elena asked, eyeing Ava who raised an eyebrow.

"Of course. What is it?" Bonnie wondered.

"The bad mojo. When you touched Stefan and you had that reaction—"

"You know what," Bonnie cut in, "forget I said that. Your little dinner party plot totally won me over."

"No, Bonnie, seriously. What was it? Did you see something, or..."

Bonnie hesitated and sighed, making Ava nervous. Was it really that bad? "It wasn't clear like a picture. Like today, I keep seeing those same numbers I told you about...eight, fourteen, twenty-two."

"Yeah?" Elena pushed gently.

"When I touched Stefan, it was a feeling. And it vibrated through me, and it was cold, and it—"

"And what?" Elena insisted.

"It was death. It's what I imagine death to be like," Bonnie whispered.

Ava froze, glancing between Bonnie and Elena in confusion. Bad mojo? Reaction? _Death_? What the hell were they talking about? What was going on? Ava felt like she walked into a movie theater in the middle of a movie and had no idea what was happening. She wanted to ask, but the look on Elena's face had her stopping short. She had never seen that before, not since the day of their parents' funeral. So haunted and lost, and Ava didn't know what to do about it, just like four months ago.

Elena was silent for a moment, dark eyes flickering over Bonnie's face, before she looked at her feet. "I need to go get my sweater," she muttered, shaking her head as Ava tried to follow her, and then headed back for her car.

Ava sighed, running a hand through her hair, green eyes flickering over to Bonnie who looked confused and guilty at the same time. She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest, eyeing Bonnie until finally the younger girl sighed and mimicked Ava's stance by crossing her arms over her chest. Clearly there was more to the story that Ava didn't know, something that happened the night before, before Ava got there. And she wasn't about to let it go until she got some answers. Considering it involved Elena and the guy she was dating—or possibly dating—there was no way on Earth that Ava would be letting it go, and she knew Bonnie knew that.

"My grams has been telling me a lot about our family history and who I supposedly am," she started, dropping her eyes to their feet and avoiding Ava's intense gaze. "She says I'm a witch and that I know things. I didn't believe her at first, but I started getting these... _visions_ , I guess. _Feelings_. The numbers eight, fourteen, and twenty-two. And...when I touched Stefan, I got this feeling. Like I told Elena, it's what I imagined death to be like." She sighed. "But now I guess I don't really understand because Stefan's a good person, Elena proved that to me last night."

"Do you think he'll hurt her?" Ava asked quietly, trying to keep herself calm. She didn't understand it either, she never believed in shit like witchcraft or ghosts or anything like that, but something _did_ happen to Stefan's hand; he got cut, and it healed. If it wasn't something supernatural, then what was it?

"No," Bonnie finally said, her voice sincere. "I don't." Ava relaxed a little. Though she knew Bonnie couldn't know for sure, there was no way to really know for sure, but she trusted the younger girl and so she decided to take what she said as fact...even if that meant allowing herself to believe in something like witchcraft or automatic healing.

Ava nodded slowly and gave her a soft smile, wrapping an arm around hers as a sign of comfort and solidarity. Bonnie look relieved and Ava patted her hand. No matter how hard it was for her to believe in some of this stuff, she knew that these girls needed her help. Or perhaps she just _wanted_ them to need her help as part of being a big sister. Either way she was there to stay, and she wouldn't let anything happen to them.

.x.x.x.x.

A few minutes later, as Ava was walking with Bonnie towards the stadium to find a seat while Bonnie searched for Caroline, they heard a loud commotion from the back of the school. Matt Donovan came running from the back, yelling about finding Tanner. Ava and Bonnie both frowned, looked at each other, and then took off in that direction. Legs pumping and heart pounding, she hoped that Elena was nowhere near this. Her younger sister had seen enough death four months ago when their parents died, that she didn't want for her to see her teacher dead as well.

And he was definitely dead. Laying in a crumpled heap outside of the backdoor to the school, Tanner's throat was ripped open and even from there she could see his body was pale enough that most of his blood was gone. Faintly she remembered reports from a couple days ago that some people along the road were killed by an animal along with a couple hikers, and Vicki Donovan was attacked and left alive; Ava was confused. Animals normally didn't come this close to town, let alone attack and kill just one person. And they certainly didn't leave the body this in tact other than the blood being drained. Frankly it terrified her, because if it would come up to the school and randomly attack, who's to say it wouldn't do it again? Or come to someone's house to attack? And not just anybody's...but _hers_ , where her brother and sister and aunt lived.

She would die before she let anything happen to them. Or, frankly, Bonnie or Caroline either.

"Ava, look," Bonnie said, her voice full of tears and fear. Ava looked over, worried, but Bonnie was staring at the scene in front of them. Her hand shook as she pointed and Ava frowned, but it took her only a moment to see what Bonnie meant. Building _eight_. License plate number _fourteen_. Parking spot _twenty-two_. The numbers that Bonnie had been talking about that night. Ava tried not to look as freaked out as she felt. But really, what was the proper reaction? Elena told her about the spoons in the drawer and something about a commercial, and Bonnie had mentioned birthday candles. Those all seemed like huge coincidences. But this? This was straight up The Craft shit now, and Ava had seen that movie; it didn't end well for all of them.

But she didn't say anything as Bonnie was already freaked out enough. She quickly pulled the younger girl closer, hugging her tight and letting her cry into her shoulder. It dampened the edge of her shirt, but really, as an older sister it was something she was used to. So many tears that she wiped away over the years. And she was good at what she did. "It's okay, Bonnie," she whispered. "We'll figure this out. I'll help you talk to your grams, and this will all be okay." The girl didn't say anything, but she nodded and sniffled against Ava's shirt.

.x.x.x.x.

Ava was the one to take Bonnie home after Elena told her that she was going to ride with Stefan. Neither Ava nor Bonnie minded that and it gave Bonnie a chance to calm down. Ava could tell she didn't want to talk about it anymore so she didn't push, which meant the ride was silent, but not uncomfortably so. She just wanted the girl to feel alright again, and with all of this happening, she knew how difficult that could be. And she had a feeling nothing would be alright for a long while, but that didn't mean she couldn't help it along. It was in her blood, her instincts.

Finally Ava pulled up outside Bonnie's grams's house. She had only been there a couple times before she left, but Mystic Falls was small enough that she remembered right where it was. She could faintly see a figure just inside the door until it opened, the woman looking agitated before Ava rolled down her window. "Hi, Sheila!" she called, smiling kindly and waving.

Sheila Bennett looked surprised, but she smiled and waved back as Bonnie began to climb out.

"Oh my gosh, Ava Gilbert, as I live and breathe!"

Ava laughed. "It's good to see you!"

"You too, child! You must come around sometime soon."

"Of course, I would be honored."

"Thanks for giving Bonnie a ride!"

"No problem at all. Have a good night!" Sheila waved to her and Ava called for Bonnie for a moment as the girl began her way inside. She paused, but then turned to Ava, who was frowning at her slightly. "Remember what I said, okay? We'll talk to her. You're not alone in this."

Bonnie slowly smiled, waved goodbye, and headed inside after her grams. Ava sighed and rolled the window back up before heading back for the Gilbert house to get some sleep. It had been quite a long day.

It was mostly dark when she got back other than a dull light coming from Elena's bedroom. That told her either Jenna and Jeremy were already asleep, or they weren't home. She truly hoped Jeremy was because frankly she was ready to drag his ass back home and keep him there until he stopped whatever it was that he was doing to himself, but she hoped that he worked it out without her need to do that. He was fifteen and needed guidance, but he wasn't young enough that he needed her to hold his hand. The thought of that hurt because that's what Ava lived for—her mother had always said that she would make a great mom because she was Elena and Jeremy's mother even at age five when she would insist on changing diapers and putting them to bed even though she could barely pick them up—but that's what growing up was all about. Not to mention Jeremy finding his way to becoming a man; he no longer had their father to help him, while Elena had Jenna and Ava to help her. So Ava would be nurturing and keep her distance, even though it didn't sit right with her.

The car clunked to a stop in the driveway and she got out, running a hand through her hair. While she was glad to be home, this is definitely not what she was expecting. New boyfriends, witches, animal attacks, and...the feeling of being watched? She whipped around, hair flying over her shoulders as she quickly searched the darkness around her for someone or something lurking in the shadows. The fact that she couldn't see anyone didn't sit well for her, just made her stomach clench and then drop to her feet. She gulped and slowly started backing for the house, bright green eyes keeping themselves firmly in the darkness until she felt the bottom step behind the heel of her boot and then she turned, running up them quickly and through the front door, slamming it shut and locking it. The adrenaline made her pant and she peeped outside one last time before shaking her head and heading upstairs.

 _Now you're just being paranoid, Ava,_ she scolded herself. In her room she changed quickly into some pajamas: a plain white t-shirt that said **Girls Can Do Anything** , some plaid pajama pants, and some darker plaid slippers. She tied her hair up behind her and trailed back downstairs to make some chamomile tea to help her sleep. While she had been diagnosed with insomnia five years previously, she had weened herself off her sleeping pills and instead relied on chamomile "sleepy time" tea and melatonin supplements to help her. She didn't want to become addicted and, looking at Jeremy, apparently it was pretty easy to do just that.

As she padded her way back upstairs, that feeling crept to the back of her neck again, but she ignored it, unaware of the tall figure in a black leather jacket standing just outside the back doors.


End file.
